A future in phonics

“I strongly believe this is the true way to teach language skills to children . . .”  – Elementary teacher trainer

Nothing else conjures up determination, passion and hard work like the desire to help our children succeed, and these qualities were in abundance when twenty-eight Master Teacher Trainers from all over Papua New Guinea gathered together at the Ukarumpa Training Centre in October and November for the Creative Phonics workshop. Administrators and teachers alike were energized as they learned how to use the Creative Phonics method of reading and writing in the mother tongue as a foundation for literacy.

During the three-week course, funded by AusAid, educators from nine different teacher colleges planned how to equip their teachers with the Creative Phonics curriculum using the local languages spoken in each school. With over 800 different languages in Papua New Guinea, and with most schools having limited access to resources and materials, the method is practical because teachers do not need to rely on formalized primers or other expensive materials, but can use what is locally and readily available. One teacher was so excited about the simplicity and creativity of the method that she said she was going to begin using it with her own children when she returned home.

Although long hours were spent developing training materials, working through potential difficulties and developing lesson plans to pass on to trainees, there was a spirit of encouragement and enthusiasm among colleagues, many of whom were taking precious time out of the school year to complete the training. The extra time and effort was worth it to one teacher from the Primary Teacher’s College who said, “I have learnt so much in these three weeks. I have been enriched so much by the wealth of knowledge gained . . . I know that this is the way to go to help the illiterate in this country.”

In the end, the Master Trainers walked away from their time together better equipped and inspired to ensure the success of the most important people of all — the future readers and leaders of their own country.

Learning how to teach phonics